The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) shared on LinkedIn:
“NEW research finds that NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) referral criteria miss up to 95% of women under 50 who go on to develop breast cancer within 10 years.
Researchers at the ICR and University of Cambridge compared a comprehensive risk assessment tool to the current NICE criteria.
Identifying women at higher risk can allow for additional screening or preventive treatment.
The research, published in the British Journal of Cancer, found that the new method could identify 8 times as many women under 50 who developed breast cancer as the NICE criteria.
The NICE criteria is based on family history, while the comprehensive risk assessment tool combines factors such as family history, lifestyle, reproductive history and genetic information.
ICR Professor Montserrat Garcia-Closas said:
‘There will be a balance to strike: the NICE criteria are much easier to implement, but miss a large proportion of women at elevated risk. But a full risk assessment including genetic testing will place a heavy burden on resources.
Ultimately, it will be a trade-off between the practical, resource, and cost implications of data collection and risk assessment, and the potential benefits and harms associated with accurate and inaccurate classification of women.’